Music is one of the most commonly used mediums for expression when it comes to reflecting upon current, past or future society. Artists use music as a way to reach the masses and express their hopes, fears and concerns in a way that is enjoyable and entertaining. When analyzing certain songs it is abundantly clear what the composer was thinking when he wrote the piece. If one were to take a look at the song ‘Eve of Destruction’ performed by Barry McGuire and written by P.F. Sloan, they would see a clear and distinct world view that Sloan emphasized in his lyrics. ‘Eve of Destruction’ was written in 1964. There was a lot of turmoil during this time period and being in the midst of the Vietnam war, it was a time of great controversy. Soon…show more content… It says, “Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama”. During January and February of 1965,Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) led a sequence of demonstrations to the Dallas County Courthouse. On February 17, protester named Jimmy Lee Jackson was shot by an Alabama state trooper. The gunshot proved to be fatal. The reaction to this was a protest march from Selma to Montgomery. It was scheduled for March 7. Over six hundred marchers gathered in Selma on Sunday, March 7. It was led by John Lewis and other Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and SCLC activists. They crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River on their way to Montgomery. Just before the bridge, they found Alabama State troopers and local police had set up a barricade. They ordered them to turn around. When the protesters refused, the officers fired teargas and walked into the crowd. They proceeded to beat the nonviolent protesters with their billy clubs and ended up hospitalizing over fifty people. “Bloody Sunday” was shown on television around the entire world. Martin Luther King called for civil rights supporters to go to Selma for a second march. On March 21, the final march began with the federal government protecting them. Then on August 6, 1965, the federal Voting Rights Act was passed. This…show more content… After analyzing just those two sets of lyrics one sees the immense amount of meaning that makes up this song, and then one realizes how the U.S. government may have not appreciated this song and why they might have gotten it banned. Songs like this from this time period were extremely popular because of the public. They supported most of these views and because of that, these songs were suppressed and often attempts were made to keep them out of the publics eye. Fortunately although this song was banned, it had a huge impact on Americans. They heard the song and either already knew about the topics that were sung about, or they learned about them and were horrified that all of these atrocious acts were occurring. This song helped to awaken the American youth to the things that needed to be changed in the world. And that is why this song is such an important American